Astros Minor League Recaps

Sunday's Games

Iowa over Oklahoma City 5-2 in 7 innings (Game 1)
Brett Oberholtzer allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks in three and two-thirds innings, with one of those runs coming across during Josh Zeid's watch on a bases-loaded walk. Zeid loaded the bases himself and had to be bailed out by Rhiner Cruz. The RedHawks only managed one run in the second on an Andy Simunic sac fly and one run in the fourth on a Carlos Perez home run. Jake Elmore had the only other extra-base hit, a double; Trevor Crowe had the only multi-hit game with two singles; and Marc Krauss went hitless, but drew two walks.

Oklahoma City over Iowa 4-3 in 10 innings (Game 2)
What should have been another 7-inning game ended up going to extras as Iowa tied things up in the sixth and again in the ninth on blown saves from Kevin Chapman and Jose Valdez, but all was well as the RedHawks came back in the top of the 10th to score, and Eric Berger converted his first save of the season in the bottom of the frame. Kyle Hallock went four innings to start this one, allowing one run on four hits and two walks and was followed by one and two-thirds perfect innings from Jason Stoffel. OKC got on the board in the second on a Brett Wallace (3x5) solo homer and a Cody Clark (2x4 R) RBI single and didn't score again until the ninth when Wallace added on a second solo home run to re-take the lead. The final winning run came via a Che-Hsuan Lin RBI single. Jimmy Paredes was two-for-four with a double and a walk. Trevor Crowe stole his 11th base of the season and Jake Elmore stole his 7th.

Corpus Christi over San Antonio 7-3
Bobby Doran cruised to his fourth win of the season on a five-inning outing in which he allowed two runs via the long ball while striking out four. Nick Tropeano followed with four innings in which the only run he allowed was also on a home run. Corpus Christi took an early on Jio Mier's two-run home run in the second, but gave the runs back in the bottom of the frame. They added another one in the third as J.D. Martinez drove in George Springer on a ground out. Martinez drove in three more with a fifth inning home run. In the seventh, Springer also participated in the home run derby with a solo shot. Kiké Hernandez was two-for-three with a double, walk and run scored. Springer stole his sixth and seventh bases of the season.

Lancaster over High Desert 4-1
Blair Walters put up a very good start (5IP 2H 1R 2BB 4SO), but the win went to Aaron West as the JetHawks didn't score until late. West pitched a strong four scoreless innings with three hits, no walks and five strikeouts. Lancaster waited to do all of their scoring in the seventh as they took advantage of two High Desert errors to put up a couple of runs before M.P. Cokinos capped off the inning with a two-run home run. Nolan Fontana was two-for-five with a triple; Telvin Nash was two-for-three with a walk and scored a run; and Tyler Heineman was two-for-four with a double and scored a run. Brandon Meredith had an RBI single.

Quad Cities over West Michigan 5-4
Lance McCuller's first win continues to elude him despite putting up his best outing of the season on Sunday. In five innings, he allowed two hits and a walk and struck out nine batters, including striking out the side in his final inning of work. A 4-1 Quad Cities lead evaporated quickly with three runs scored off Daniel Minor and Michael Dimock in the sixth and seventh innings knotting things up. But Quad Cities re-took the lead in the top of the eighth on an Austin Elkins sacrifice bunt scoring Brian Blasik, a lead ultimately preserved by Mitch Lambson and John Neely (S, 5) despite a little bases-loaded drama in the ninth. Teoscar Hernandez was two-for-four with a double, walk and two runs scored; Joe Sclafani was two-for-four with an RBI double and a walk; and Terrell Joyce was one-for-three with an RBI single and two walks. The River Bandits drew a total of 12 walks, with Jesse Wierzbicki drawing four walks and Ariel Ovando drawing two walks, including a bases loaded walk.

Player of the Day: Brett Wallace gets the nod for going three-for-five with two solo home runs. He is hitting .320/.414/.620 in seven games with OKC. I think we need to blindfold him and tell him that MMP is really Chicasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Pitcher of the Day:  Much WTHB love goes to Lance McCullers for his terrific performance. It's just a shame that 9 strikeouts and a 100-mph fastball couldn't get him a W. Tandem pitching strikes again.